The Diadem of Seasons
by Kessie-Louise
Summary: A few months after 'The Stolen Key', Luke and Nat begin to prepare for their school's various spring gatherings. But a rather infamous group has sent someone to make sure the kids continue to unlock the mystery behind their sleepy town. With fear and stress on both sides of the spectrum, will the two successfully find the next clue? Part 2 of the Pamatovat Chronicles, R&R!
1. A New Clue

According to their music teacher, instruments were able to express a wide array of emotions, but some were more capable at it than others. The violin was an instrument that was... 'emotionally constipated' their music teacher had said. Sure, it was often used for more sad tones, but under the right hands it could be used to make the sad appear more joyous. Luke, apparently, had those hands.

The piano, on the other hand, as according to their teacher, could go from melancholy to uplifting before the first stanza ended. But only the right hands could perform the two differences seamlessly and gracefully. Nat's hands nearly fell into this criteria, but she was the only one in school who could do it with some dignity in tact.

Their two talents together, the music teacher had decided that they would form a duet for the spring concert. With very little consent on their part, the music teacher had strapped the two down to perform Canon in D. 'It captures the innocence of spring,' their music teacher had told them during their first practice. And at the time, it sounded more like the gates of hell. Now, however, it had improved amazingly and the duet sounded more together and well rehearsed. Considering they had months to practice, it wasn't much of a surprise.

Nat finished the piece slowly and carefully before their music teacher spoke to them.

"Perfect!" the petite woman said in her near whisper voice. "You two have it down beautifully!"

Luke bowed to their music teacher in a typical end-of-performance way. Nat thought he was over killing it_ just_ a little.

"Only because you had created a very beautiful arrangement." Luke told the music teacher, more honest than what Nat was giving him credit for.

"Oh!" the music teacher blushed. "I didn't come up with this arrangement, it was someone else."

The comment went over Luke's head.

"It is still a treat to have the chance to perform it." Luke insisted. The music teacher blushed a darker shade of red. Nat hid her face in the palms of her hands in disdain.

. . .

Luke and Nat walked home after practice, under Luke's suggestion, to admire what was left of the snow and the little bunch of flowers that tried to grow despite the still cold weather. They went to Luke's house because no one would have been home at Nat's house. Her parents worked hours that weren't exactly convenient for anyone, especially for their own daughter. So the Tritons took Nat in whenever they could. And quite frankly, Nat preferred being with the Tritons any way.

Luke checked the mail as Nat continued toward the door. Nat was almost in the door when she realized Luke wasn't behind her. He stood there at the mailbox looking at a letter which (from Nat's view) had a red seal on it. His expression was mixed, but most noticeably excited. Nat debated on whether to walk over to him, but she didn't need to. He looked up at her and smiled like a child who was given their greatest wish.

"The professor!" Luke exclaimed, the only words managing to come out of his mouth as he waved the letter in the air. Nat just nodded slowly with a plastered smile.

. . .

Stationed at his desk, Luke carefully opened the letter and got out the letter within it. Nat hovered above him, reading the letter over his shoulder. The letter in question gave its opinion on a few copies of a piece of dated paper that Luke and Nat had sent to Professor Layton a month or so back. The brief summary? The good professor had found evidence that one side of the dated paper was a piece of a map, the other side held a clue.

"What does it mean?" Luke asked curiously to himself. "Here's a puzzle for you Nat, what do you think of it."

Nat looked at what the professor had wrote that he interpreted the clue to mean. The clue was written to them as such;

_Given to the queen,_

_However young she is._

_A diadem of seasons,_

_Giving many a reason._

Nat stared at it, her mind moving as it processed. Luke had momentarily stopped his pondered to look at her.

"I... have no idea." Nat finally told him. Luke nodded in acceptance.

"Then I suppose," he said, putting the letter back in the envelope, "We have a new puzzle to solve."


	2. Forboding

It took her two pass-throughs of that hallway to realize that a poster was put up on the student bulletin board. When she realized it, she stared at the poster in annoyance and disbelief. The poster in question was advertizing the spring dance. She hated it. The dance, that is. She had to bring a partner. She had to wear a frilly dress. She had to _smile_ to her peers whenever the talked to her and _laugh_ when they told her a joke. The only thing that was a joke in her book was that the spring dance was required to all students.

But as she brooded over the poster and the impending doom it entailed, Nat was suddenly hit with an idea. She tucked her thought away in her mind to replay it for Luke later, for now though, she had class.

. . .

"It's the tiara Luke!" Nat declared, the duo at the Triton's home again after school. They were sitting in the kitchen while Brenda happily made them something to snack on. "The clue was talking about the tiara that is given to the Queen of Spring at the school's spring dance. No matter what grade she's in, if you are voted on enough (given a reason), the winner would take the tiara for the night."

"Good job girl!" Luke congratulated, feeling quite pleased with her. "That would explain why it is school policy that the tiara has to be returned at the end of the night. Anyone that doesn't hand the tiara back could be suspended."

"Or how its against the law and punishable by death if you're legal age." Nat chimed in. Then she paused for a moment before adding, "Wow. Our town is _seriously_ messed up..."

"There's just one more problem before we go on." Luke told her, somewhat ignoring her last statement.

"And what's that?" Nat asked him.

"We can't take the tiara just to find out what it means for the mystery surrounding our town." Luke told her. "One of us has to win it at the dance. _Without_ everyone knowing that we took it."

Nat's face slowly grew pale when she realized what that entailed for her.

. . .

Meanwhile, a 1930s coupe parked next to town hall. A butler stepped out of the front passenger seat and opened the door to the back passenger seats. A woman dressed entirely in black with thick sunglasses on stepped out of the car with a certain air of grace. She looked around, definitely not impressed with what she saw.

"So this is the town of remembrance." she said in a dull tone.

"Pamatovat." the butler agreed with a small nod.

"Funny." the woman said. "I thought this place would look a lot more... lively than this."

The butler nervously looked at his charge, not sure of what she was getting at or what she was going to do.

"Oh well." the woman said with a sigh. "We're not going to get anything done just standing here..."

The butler watched as the woman made her way to the town hall door to visit the mayor. Then he slid back into the front passenger seat to wait for her to return.

The moment she had seen the sign for the town's entrance, her life had become a dream. This was the town. This was the place were she could bring back the lost. This was the place were the past would become alive again. This was the place she would see her dead sister again.

But the secret of the town had to be unearthed first.

They had placed her in control of the project after their spy had send back news of the possibility of the unearthing. They already knew that she would be quite personal on the subject. And if the spy had been correct on what he believed, she would have had mutual connection with the one uncovering the town's history. It nearly blended in so well, the organization did not take it as chance.

She walked through town hall as if she knew where everything was. She kept right on walking until she stopped at the mayor's door. She adjusted herself a little and knocked on the door.


	3. The Lady in Black

A few weeks went by and Luke had succeeded in turning down every girl that asked him to the dance. Nat had took note that this wasn't because he was ignorant, it was because he was truly overwhelmed that so many girls would want to ask him. Horribly, Nat took some pride in this, knowing that eventually he'd either go alone or go with her. Either worked in her book, however evil that may have sounded.

No one had asked Nat. But she didn't like people, so it didn't bother her much.

The spring concert came before the dance though, so it wasn't like they two had anything better to worry themselves about. If they chose to worry about it. Nat's mother had decided to take Luke and Nat to get new clothes for the performance. It wouldn't have been so bad in hindsight, but Luke had found the perfect tuxedo and tie in under thirty minutes, Nat's clothing escapades had taken them over two hours.

"What do you think about this dress Luke? Tell me, you have to be on stage with her." Nat's mother Vivian said, holding up a short pink dress to Nat's body. The girl tried to surpass the urge to blush harder than what she already was.

"I think it would be up to Nat." Luke told the mother, not sure if his opinion was really needed or not.

"Hmm..." Viv said thoughtfully. Vivian couldn't help but be a fashionista, but it was part of her occupation. For the longest time, Vivian had been employed as a personal shopper and interior decorator when the Ulmer family had been in America. After the move, Vivian's job declined, but was still offered an opportunity or two if someone in town (usually an official) needed a new wardrobe or an opinion for a new set of stairs they wanted to put in. This would have been fine for Nat if she was a more interested shopper, but she wasn't. She wanted to get out as soon as she could.

Eventually, (praise all that is good) Vivian was able to find her daughter a long dress that matched the color of Luke's tie (which was dark blue) and then took the kids to the local pizza parlor to get something to eat for a late lunch, early dinner.

"I am going to look ugly." Nat muttered to Luke as her mother ordered the kids' food.

"No one will be able to see you that well!" Luke pointed out to her. "You don't even need to smile or anything. All Miss Blanchard asks of us, really, is to stand up (or sit, in your case) with our backs straight and focus on what we're doing. Unlike most teachers, she doesn't require that we plaster on false smiles while we concentrate on something else."

"It'll still be ugly." Nat bitterly told him. Luke smiled back, assuring her that it wasn't all that bad. Mostly.

But that had been only a few short days ago. Now the two were standing backstage, waiting for the current performance to end so Luke and Nat could take their places. Luke was holding his violin under his arm. The piano Nat would be performing on was already on the stage, due to it being too heavy for easy removing. Nervously, Nat bounced on her heels, a bad habit actually considering she was in high heels.

"You'll be fine." Luke told her without even looking over at her.

"Says you." she retorted.

"And the dress looks very beautiful on you." Luke added before the two prepared to take their places after the current act had ended. Caught in the midst of her own nervousness, his comment had sailed completely over Nat's head and didn't hit her until after their duet.

When the duo finished their duet, there was hardly a dry eye left in the house. Luke took a bow before helping Nat stand up so she could bow as well. The two bowed together at the audience one last time before walking off the stage for good. Waiting for them in the wings was a woman dressed entirely in black. Dark shaded sunglasses blocked their view of her eyes, although there was no need for her to be wearing them indoors. Luke had noticed her first, and when he did, he took hold of Nat's hand. At first Nat had been confused, but then she noticed the woman too. Nat tried to tug Luke away. The woman's hollowed face was scaring Nat for a reason she couldn't describe and she wanted to get away from her. Now.

Luke's resistance to move didn't help Nat's growing anxiety either.

"That was a wonderful performance Luke Triton." the woman said coolly. Her voice was near toneless and as hollowed as her face.

"How do you know who I am?" Luke asked the woman.

"Your face was all over the London papers less than five years back. It doesn't take that superior of mental power to connect two faces." the woman said with a wave of her hand. "Besides, the Targent doesn't believe in coincidences."

At the mention of the Targent, Luke's face instantly grew pale. This reaction only made the woman smile.

"I believe its time for us to join forces." she snickered satisfyingly. Luke's face only grew more pale.


	4. Comfort from Fear

The Triton adults looked at the Targent woman as if she had a bomb attached to her. She looked unsuspecting enough, drinking the tea brewed for her by Brenda on the family's sofa. If only she would take of her sunglasses, it might have taken some unease off of everyone's mind.

"So you're saying the children agreed to help you?" Clark asked, having all right to be suspicious.

"Yes, in an arranged way." the woman agreed before taking a dainty sip of tea. A short and unintended scoff from Luke gave Clark all the impression needed to know how the arrangement went.

"Please forgive me, but what did you say your name was again?" Clark asked the woman.

"Lani Foley of the Targent; _Veterum non morietur in aeternum_." the woman said, holding herself a little higher. Clark looked over at Brenda and the two gave each other a nod. They both knew the possible danger this woman could cause the kids. But the question still stood; what would they do about it?

"Miss Foley, do you really want me to believe that you think these kids would be able to help find what the Targent is after?" Clark asked her.

"Like the Azran..." Luke muttered bitterly. Miss Foley put the cup on the table gently, then glared at Luke in the worse way imaginable.

"The Targent is no longer interested in the Azran." the lady in black told him. "At the... fall of Sir Bronev and after what the good Professor destroyed, the Targent moved on. We began to focus on other mythological and legendary civilizations that holds significance to today's world."

"And which one involves our town?" Luke asked, folding his arms in disbelief.

"That information is kept to the Targent." Miss Foley told the teen. "Unless you would like to join. We have been looking at Layton and yourself for some time after our first encounter..."

"Luke will not be joining your agency any time soon!" Clark suddenly burst, but then quickly recomposed himself. "It is not an agency that I want our family's name to be ruined with, such as the case of the Reinel family."

Miss Foley said nothing against this and began to take another sip of tea. Everyone looked at her as if she had turned them to stone. Statues frozen in an unknown, but shared, fear. Amidst his own extreme dislike for the Targent woman, Luke looked over at Nat, who hadn't said a word and looked as if she was staring into space. Luke looked from his parents to Miss Foley, then decided to take Nat by the hand and out of the room. She still looked as if she was catatonic.

"Are you alright?" he asked her, sounding nearly terrified. Nat blinked and looked at him. When she came back to rational thinking, Nat took a hold of his shoulders.

"I'm scared Luke" she told him. "I don't even know why, but just her being here..."

Luke's face relaxed with kindness. Softly, he put his hands on hers.

"I'm scared too." he told her, quite honestly. "But I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Nat looked at him, still not quite sure. But Luke's smile worked wonders and eventually, Nat relaxed.

"Whatever happens, we are in this together." Luke told her calmly. "I'm not going to leave you behind, as the professor had said time and time before, it's not what a gentleman does. But I need you to help me too, understand?"

Nat nodded.

"Good." Luke smiled.

. . .

For once in her life, Nat was never more relieved to actually go home when someone noticed her parents were there.

"You missed dinner hun." Vivian said as her daughter came through the door.

"What was it?" Nat asked.

"Subs from the deli." her mother said shamelessly.

"Oh..." Nat said, rather disappointed. Her mom hardly ever made anything on the stove, not that her mom was the one that could cook in the family to begin with.

"Are you still hungry?" Vivian asked. "There is still another sub in there if you want it."

"No," Nat said as she started up to her room. "I ate at the Tritons. Good night Mom."

"Good night." Vivian told her daughter as she disappeared up the staircase.

Nat went up to her room and shut the door. She then grabbed the flashlight on her bureau and went to her window. She flicked the flashlight on and off in Morse code toward the window that belonged to the Tritons next door. It took awhile, but a code in another flashlight came back at her. Luke was in his bedroom now too.

'_Feelsafe' _Luke messaged her through the flashlight.

'_Almost_' she messaged back. Nat thought about what to ask Luke next.

_'Isshethere' _Nat sent to him.

'L_eftforhotel'_

_'Good'_

Then there was a pause between the two.

_'Goingtodance'_ Luke finally messaged.

'_Meoryou'_

_'You'_

_'No'_

_'Waswaiting'_

_'Forme'_

_'Westicktogether' _There was a short pause, then he added, _'Imeantit'_

Nat put her flashlight down for a moment. So, he was waiting for her to ask him to take her to the dance? Why didn't he just ask her? Why was she getting so excited that he wanted to take her? Who really cared?

_'Thankyou' _Nat messaged him back, hoping her gratefulness actually reached over.

_'Noproblem.'_

_'Goodnight'_

_'Goodnight'_

And with that, the flashlights went off and everyone went to bed.


	5. The Dance

For the next few, and very short, days, with no leads to go on until the spring dance, Luke and Nat waited it out while having Miss Foley breathe down their necks like a dragon. It kept them on edge, just the way Miss Foley wanted. She would not leave them alone, and if they two had any further ideas into how they could get the tiara before the dance, she wanted to know first hand. They didn't have any further ideas, due to Luke seeing that winning it fair and square would have been a more decent way of approaching the problem. With this idea though, Miss Foley had already rigged the spring dance elections so Nat would win. It reminded the teenagers how manipulative the Targent were, and only made them more anxious.

The night before the dance, Luke and Nat had another flashlight discussion through their windows.

_'Tomorrownight' _Luke messaged first.

_'Iamscared'_

_'SoamI'_

_'Itisriggedright'_

_'Yesitis'_

_'Stillscared'_

_'Youarenotalone'_

_'Iknowthankyou'_

The next night, Luke had been escorted to the high school with Miss Foley before Nat had even started to get dressed. The lady from the Targent positioned herself out of the way, but Luke was still aware of her presence. Nervous of being watched, Luke paced around the gym as it was decorated for the dance. The music didn't appeal to him enough to make him want to dance alone or with someone else. Many of his fellow female students looked at him admirably, but he ignored them all. The Targent could use anyone, be anyone, and turn against anyone. With Miss Foley in the background, Luke was sure that there had to be others with her, watching him too.

Meanwhile, Nat hesitated before even touching the doors to the school gymnasium. She knew what waited for her the moment she stepped through. She didn't want it. She wanted to exercise being the little brat she was. She didn't want to go in there. She just didn't _care_.

_No matter what happens, we're in this together._

Darn it Luke! If you weren't so easy on the eyes, no one would pay any attention to you whatsoever! It was a wonder anyone paid attention to what he said though...

Nat shook away her thoughts and got rid of them completely. In doing this, she gave herself a good amount of bravery and finally pushed open the doors. The music was loud and had a beat to it that made Nat smile. What fears did she have? The music was too intoxicating to even notice!

Luke didn't notice Nat had arrived until he had wandered to the center of the commotion at the dance. He saw her dancing freely to the beat as if she didn't have a care in the world. For a moment, Luke forgot about the Targent and smiled at his friend in her oblivion. As the song ended, he walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around, genuinely surprised, but when she realized it was him, she smiled.

"Why aren't you dancing?" Nat asked him.

"Paranoia." he told her. "Why didn't you tell me when you were ready? I wouldn't have left so soon."

Nat shrugged.

"Dance with me!" she said, holding her hands out for him to take them. As if to answer the question, a slow song started to play. Luke smiled and shook his head with a chuckle. Figures.

"I wouldn't be a proper gentleman if I said no." he agreed. Nat surpassed the urge to squeal a little as the two began to dance together to the song.

_There nay not be an answer to this too,_

_Why the sky blue._

_Is the changes in me true?_

_Now that you are next to me,_

_I have no fears, _

_And all I know is that I want to be with you..._

_Some times its easy to forget the times we're weak._

_The moment makes us weak._

_And though the shame I seek,_

_Memories exist for all the precious days my heart still wants _

_To keep somewhere deep inside of me..._

From the sidelines, Miss Foley looked on rather bitterly. Her childhood had been taken away from bad decisions and even worse morale. It made her bitter. But she knew that this little hormone induced bonding the teens were having only gave the Targent more reason to 'motivate' them. She didn't care though, their lives weren't hers. She had no reason to care, and she hoped she never would.

Meanwhile, the teenaged duo had gotten closer as the song continued. Soon, they had been so close that in one move they could have...

"It's time to announce this year's Spring Queen!" the principal shouted happily from the stage that had been set up for the dance. Almost as if they had come out of a trance, Luke and Nat jumped away from each other in an instant.


	6. In The Wrong Hands

The principal, like many adults in their town, was dignified. He stood proud and tall on the stage with an envelope in his hands.

"It took a lot of consideration for this year's Spring Queen." the principal told the students in a gruff and authoritative voice. "But the winner tonight well deserves it."

Luke and Nat flinched at the same time, both knowing that the elections had been rigged by the Targent so they could get the tiara.

"And the winner is..." the principal said as he opened the envelope, "Natalie!"

For a moment, everyone was in a murmur. Even the principal looked back at the card as if he had read it wrong. He didn't though, and Nat slowly walked up to the stage. Regardless of the odd circumstances, the principal placed the tiara on her head.

"A tradition made since the beginning of our town's history, the Tiara of Spring reminds of the history we thought we lost, but is only stored in memory." the principal said, reciting a well rehearsed speech. Then he let Nat intermingle with the rest of her fellow classmates again for the obligatory first dance of the queen. The problem, however, with this is that hardly any of her schoolmates knew who she was. She wasn't their first choice (if she was their choice at all) for the Spring Queen title, and a few were beginning to hate her for her unearned status. If Luke hadn't stepped up to lead her in the first dance, someone would have started throwing food from the buffet table at her.

"When you're ready, Miss Foley is waiting to swap the diadem with a replica tiara." Luke told her as they danced. Nat nodded, but refused to say anything.

"Be careful." Luke told her. Nat looked him in the eye, then slowly nodded.

Eventually, Nat gathered up her courage and walked over to the Targent woman.

"Oh, you look lovely." Miss Foley said in her dull voice as she gently stroked Nat's cheek. "Can I see the diadem?"

Slowly and carefully, Nat took the headdress off and handed it to her.

"It's a beauty, isn't it?" Miss Foley said, almost to herself. With the diadem in one hand, the woman reached into the bag she had brought with her and pulled out a headdress nearly identical to the diadem with her other hand.

"Beauty can be replicated though." Miss Foley continued carelessly before placing the false tiara on Nat and putting the real one in the bag. "But its true value hides in the core. Remember that dear."

Nat nodded, refusing to look the Targent woman in the eye, and started to walk away as if nothing happened.

. . .

"The Targent have already found the location of where the diadem must be used." Miss Foley said the next day. "But it's up to you two to unlock it."

"Why us?" Luke asked her.

"The Targent expect a lot out of you Triton." the woman said bluntly. "Do you expect them to believe that Hershel Layton was able to solve all of his precious riddles alone?"

"Touche." Luke said after a short pause.

"Where are we going?" Nat asked.

"The graveyard." Miss Foley said casually. Luke and Nat looked at each other with the same expression. Fear.

Why any one would walk across a graveyard where your loved ones are not buried is one riddle Luke didn't want to solve. Another was that why this had to be done in the near dead of night. He knew for a full fact that Nat was heavily discomforted, but he questioned how Miss Foley took the ordeal. She wore those clunky sunglasses no matter what time of day, apparently. But why...?

With some form of unnatural grace and superiority a woman in heels should have in slightly muddy ground, Luke watched as Miss Foley dashed to the graveyard's mausoleum. He took a quick note of the name engraved on the front side of the above ground tomb as Miss Foley bent down in front of the name plate and withdrew the diadem from her bag. She admired the headdress for a little, then wiped off a specific part above the name plate.

"_A diadem for the memories of you..._" Miss Foley recited before jamming the diadem into a slot she had uncovered. Luke and Nat could not see the slot from where they are, so they had flinched when she quickly shoved the diadem into the stone mausoleum wall, expecting the worse. But the diadem fit quite well into the slot Miss Foley had uncovered and slowly, the mausoleum wall began to roll into the ground. When the wall had rolled away enough so Miss Foley could reach her hand inside whatever was behind it, she drew back out an old piece of paper. Luke realized it was the same type of paper they had found a few months ago when they returned a certain stolen key to its original keyhole.

"Let's go." Miss Foley said briskly as she walked away, the mausoleum wall beginning to roll back up behind her.

"Why did she need us again?" Nat whispered to Luke as the followed to Targent woman back home.

"I'm not sure." Luke admitted. "But I have an odd feeling about all of this."

Nat studied Luke as the walked, her face growing more stern and curious.

"You have that look in your eye again." she said, almost in a warning tone.

"Do I?" he asked curiously, but gave her a smile to show that he was only being smart. He then added, in a satisfied sort of way; "Good."


	7. Epilogue to the Prologue

Miss Foley looked over the old and faded paper. Carefully, with gloves on her hands, she arranged the paper with the other paper the children had found before. The Targent woman would take a step back to see if the arrangement worked, figured it didn't, then continued to arrange the papers again. Finally, she believed she had a solution. A map was beginning to take fold, but she still needed one more piece of this tedious riddle.

Even more careful than ever, Miss Foley took the old paper she had received and turned it over to read to riddle. She already knew what it meant. The Targent already knew what they were looking for and were looking for it right this second. They wouldn't get far though. That much was obvious by her watching over the children.

By her observations, Triton seemed to be completely oblivious to her name. Odd, considering, but perhaps expected. It had been years after all. And his friend, assistant, whatever, she was scared to be around the Targent woman. It gave Miss Foley a sense of power and insult. But it was a perfect reaction for someone who had never heard of the Targent before.

Then her phone rang.

"Hello." Miss Foley answered in a deadpan tone. The caller on the other end asked of her progress.

"The children are listening, not that they want to do anything with me." the Targent woman told the caller. The caller then gave their opinion on the matter.

"Everything is fine and still going as planned." Miss Foley told them. "What else do you want me to do to motivate them? Give them a puppy?"

The caller gave their sarcastic answer.

"Right." Miss Foley said, returning to a more serious tone. "What did you call me for besides to remind me to harass children."

The caller, too, became more grave as they told the Targent woman what she already knew.

"They will be able to do it in time, stop worrying so much." she told her caller. "Now, if you will, shut up." and with that, she hung up the phone and returned to her work.

Time was running out. The boss was not happy. And honestly, Miss Foley did not care one bit. The children could figure the town's mystery out in time. She had no doubt. It was the anticipation of what would happen next that kept her awake at night. And it felt good.


End file.
